


Bound

by adorekeiji



Category: Porn grenade brigade
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gangsters, Angst, Aruls a little errand boy, F/F, F/M, Gen, Lesbianism, Mafia AU, angsty lesbianism, emo arul
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-05
Updated: 2020-05-30
Packaged: 2021-02-25 03:48:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 14,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22129618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adorekeiji/pseuds/adorekeiji
Summary: Everyone that had any affiliation with the underground knew who Luna and everyone in her gang was. Same went for Kia and her crew. Everyone knew exactly who they were, exactly what they did, and most of all, that they've been rivals for generations in the Mafia.Everyone knew this. Well, everyone except Arul. Arul the unfortunate little kid who was picked up off the street and forced to work as an errand boy for two of the biggest rival gangs in the city, completely blind to the prevailing rivalry.What happens when the tension simmers and the unfortunate little errand boy gets caught in a moral conflict he never saw himself facing?
Comments: 12
Kudos: 33





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I cant believe this is a thing i fucking hate us

_"its cold._

_freezing._

_its like this every morning, and as each day goes by i'm less jarred by the chills that haunt every inch of my body as i wake up._

_i grow used to the numbness_

_to the empty, hollow feeling of knowing no purpose and yet being constantly afraid._

_what am i afraid of?_

_death?_

_pain?_

_being hurt?_

_my death would inconvenience no one._

_im starting to doubt it would inconvenience me either._

_its a natural human instinct to be afraid of physical pain is it not?_

_as for being hurt,_

_i have no one to hold close to me_

_nor anyone to hold me close to them._

_being hurt is a luxury that isnt available to me._

_i grow used to the cycle._

_cold._

_numb._

_scared._

_and ill avoid asking myself 'why keep going?'_

_the less i think the better._

_i grow used to it."_

Arul closed his ragged, old notebook and set it aside with his broken pencil.

He climbed out of his mattress, old and messy in the corner of the small dark room he called home, walked towards the cracked mirror on the right wall, and stared back at his reflection.

It was time for him to go to work.

Arul shuffled down the flight of stairs in his dingy apartment complex and head out to the street.

5am. There was still no sign of the sun in the lonely winters of this run down city. It was dead silent except for the sound of Arul's footsteps and the cold, harsh wind. Every morning was the same routine.

He walked the 15 minutes to his first place of work for the day. He took a right from the main road into the complex system of small alleyways and soon enough he was stood before the creaky old door with paint that had been chipping for over 2 years.

He knocked. A pattern he'd memorised when all of this started.

The door creaked open a small bit at first and then completely as Arul was recognized.

"You're late." Farah, or Neon as everyone had gotten used to calling her, said to him with a disinterested look on her face as she left the door for Arul to close behind him and returned to her work.

Besides Farah, the only other people upstairs were Lou and Kyra. Lou was at the corner of the room where Farah was, looking at certain papers with her. She didn't bother looking up at Arul.

Before Arul could process anything, a crumpled up ball of paper came flying at his head. He flinched and looked in the direction it came from, and saw Kyra looking back at him with a smirk on her face.

"Boss is downstairs. Go see her." She said to him flatly and went back to her computer.

Arul nodded meekly and headed downstairs, the old floorboard creaking under his feet.

He knocked on the door to the small room downstairs. After being met with a gruff "Get in." He opened the door and walked inside. 

He was met with the sight of Heba, who was sat at the desk in the corner of the room polishing an already sharp knife, and Luna, his short but terrifying boss who looked at him from where she was sat on the couch and gestured at him to go to her without lifting her eyes to look at him.

"When you go to the store dont get Mili's food, shes not here till the evening. When you're done with that go get the pick up from Antonio's at 7, and don't be fucking late, you know he doesn't deal with that crap." Luna said to him, still not looking up at him from where she was reading through some contracts and filing them, and handed him a 20 dollar bill.

"Yes, boss." Arul nodded at her and took the money for the food. He rushed upstairs and got ready to head out the door when he was tugged back by his shirt and held in a light chokehold. He whipped his head and saw Lou holding up a dollar bill at him with a smug smile on her face.

"Get me a cola while you're at it, shortie." She shoved the dollar bill at him and ruffled his hair before chuckling and walking away. Arul sighed and grabbed the bill and head outside and towards the convenience store.

This was every morning for Arul for around two years now. It all started when he was 16. He'd just eaten his dinner at the soup kitchen behind the main street 20 minutes from his house, and walked out of the door only to run into a taller figure dressed in all black. He stumbled backwards and started mumbling apologies at the short haired angry looking girl in front of him. The girl looked him up and down and then crouched down to his level and looked at Aruls terrified face.

She smirked.

"Come with me."

Arul was then unwillingly dragged to the same door he'd now been going to every single morning for two years, and pushed inside where he then unceremoniously tripped and fell to the floor.

"He looks about right for the job I'd say." The girl behind him, who he later came to know as Lou, directed to the group of people in front of Arul. Arul looked up and saw 5 other people dressed in dark colors that looked absolutely terrifying. The girl in the front, 4'11 with short dark hair, crouched down and looked right at arul. 

"What's your name?" She asked flatly.

"It- It's Arul.."

"Huh... How old are you?"

"16.."

"Parents?"

"They passed away when i was 9."

"You got a job?"

"Uh.. I uh- I worked at a small diner washing dishes but the place shut down last month so i don't anymore..."

"Huh... Well Arul, you're gonna work for me now. You get here every day at 5am sharp and i pay you enough to get yourself 2 meals a day and rent. You run away or do anything I don't tell you to- and you're dead. You start tomorrow, dont be late."

Arul widened his eyes and blinked a few times. He was still shivering with fear and couldn't comprehend anything that just happened. It seemed less like he was being offered a job and more like he was being threatened and he was 90% sure the latter was the case so he didn't dare to argue.

He wasn't quite thoughtful enough to not voice his confusion, though.

"U-Um- Uh w-wait!! W-What do you even do?? Who are you??" He stuttered out and scrambled back up to his feet.

Luna chuckled back at him "You seem like a smart boy, I'm sure you'll figure it out." 

He was not.

And he didn't.

For a while.

Back to where he was now, fully aware that he was working as an errand boy for one of the biggest mafia groups in the city with absolutely no way out, he was still aware that that was not his biggest problem.

Before he could finish that thought, he'd already arrived back to drop off the food and headed to pick up a tightly sealed envelope from a huge italian man 5 alleys away that had now nicknamed him "munchkin" in a way he doubted was endearing.

This was his morning. 5am to 2pm every single day. He'd get food, go pick up laundry, clean around whatever he was asked to, and did pretty much any odd job he was asked to do.

The day passed the same as usual. He did whatever work he was asked to do in silence, not paying attention to the conversations of anyone around him, got teased occasionally and finally around 2 in the afternoon, went home.

He locked the door of his apartment behind him and collapsed on to the bed. He passed out in seconds without even eating anything.

He'd have to wake up for his next job in about 5 hours.


	2. chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i only have another chapter i can bullshit before im gonna have to start doing some research enjoy motherfuckers

_"i dont remember how i keep finding myself in this haze between numbness and hyperawareness._

_i cant find the root of the stress, the worry._

_id hardly say im one for self preservation_

_fear and apathy dont mix together quite well._

_i shift through the haze, relying on the 2 feet i see ahead of me, and despite not being able to come up with a horrible outcome that would possibly affect me in a way that really mattered-_

_im still scared._

_i know fear all too well, and yet i know no provocation of this wretched emotion._

_the unsettling taste of the contradictory concoction of mindsets is all that lingers."_

Arul was jarred by the screeching sound of his old alarm.

7pm.

Time for work.

He head out the door without bothering to change, but the warmer evening air was a bit kinder to him and his thin clothes than the chilling morning wind. This time, he headed into the opposite side of the city. He took the longer route through alleyways and smaller, less crowded streets.

He didn't like the crowd in the big city. Crossing large roads with tons of people made him anxious. The lights, the noise of cars and people speaking made him sick. He moved quietly through dark alleyways till he reached the crappy run down cabin in the complex of slums and similar crappy cabins behind the subway. The place happened to be a lovely home to crackheads, drug dealers, gun dealers and if you went far enough inside, black market organ dealers.

It also happened to be the home to the other biggest gang in the city. The rusty roof and the white door with a single black cross at the door knob was the unmistakable signature of Kia and her crew.

The same door Arul found himself standing right in front of, ready to knock on the door.

Oh that's right.

Arul happened to be working as an errand boy for two of the biggest mafia groups in the entire fucking city.

He concluded a long time ago that something like this would only happen to him.

He was just getting ready to knock when a loud and hard slap came down on his right shoulder, causing him to flinch hard and look around frantically for who just assaulted him.

He looked to his left to see a taller girl with long light brown hair look down at him with an uninterested look on her face and key in her hand ready to open the door.

That would be Kayla.

"Oh..." Arul muttered.

Kayla just snickered at him and opened the door, entering first and leaving the door for Arul to close. Arul quickly closed the door behind him and followed Kayla inside.

"Where's boss?" Kayla asked Rita, the girl sprawled on the couch with blonde hair and dark roots in a large hoodie, while throwing a candy bar at her.

"Kia's gone to close the deal with Juan and his guys for the distribution work this month with Andy, they should be back any minute though." Rita replied, almost failing to catch the candy bar that came flying at her.

It was Friday. That meant bathroom cleaning day, so Arul immediately head to the kitchen to grab the cleaning supplies.

Arul noticed the empty Lyzol bottle and walked back into the main room to ask.

"Uhh... did we run out of Lyzol already I thought I bought some 2 weeks ago?" He asked timidly.

He heard a loud snort from the other end of the room where Chanel, or as everyone called her, Arch was sitting on the spinny chair.

"My bad Arul we were fucking around yesterday and started chucking condoms filled with Lyzol at the fuckin kids from 2 blocks away coz they kept calling Rita a nazi"

"Like, I'm fucking Ukrainian man" Rita said, mouth full of candy bar.

Arul sighed at the interaction. Every fucking time.

"Oh uh, okay, ill just go get some then" Arul announced softly and got ready to leave again.

"Yo, hold on" He heard from behind him and turned around to see a tall figure with short dyed hair towering over him, 30 dollars in her hand.

Aaand that would be Jas.

"Get us all dinner while you're at it, then we can just chuck it in the fridge and you can probably go home before midnight, we don't have much else to do today." Jas said to him and handed him the cash.

Arul usually tuned out whenever they started talking about work so he wasn't quite sure what much else even meant, but he wasnt gonna turn down going home early for sure. He nodded at Jas and took the cash from her.

Just as he did that the door slammed wide open behind him and he whipped his head around to look.

"What's up fuckers!" Announced their 5'6 dark haired gang leader as obnoxiously as humanly possible. Something good probably happened.

"Hey boss, you close the deal already?" Arch asked with slight surprise in her voice.

Andy followed from behind Kia and closed the door. "We didn't just close the fucking deal" She started.

"We got our shit going all the way through fuckin manhattan this time" Kia finished. She tied her hair up into a bun and shucked her jacket off, collapsing onto the couch next to Rita.

"Holy FUCK" Jas said from where she was standing. "How much more supply are we gonna need?" She asked, which Kia waved off.

"We'll talk numbers later- for now i want a fuckin drink." She declared and everyone hummed in agreement. 

Arul processed practically nothing from that conversation untill the last part. He paused from where he was done putting his shoes on and getting ready to leave.

"Arul, go get 2 bottles of rosé while you're getting dinner" Kia got up off the couch and reached into her baggy pants to pull put a 50 and handed it to Arul.

"And get yourself something with the change. You can go home after that we're winding shit up early today" She said to him and lightly smacked the back of his head. Arul still wasnt quite sure what had actually happened but Kia was definetly in a good mood.

Arul finally head out to the convenience store and paid for dinner and the alcohol, which the cokehead cashier barely blinked twice at Aruls childish stature before selling it to him.

Great city, really.

He headed back as quick as he could. When he returned, everyone was in a circle listening to Kia and Andy talk about how it went down at Juan's.

Everyone cheered when he set the wine and food down on the table and went at it before Arul could even throw the bags away.

After getting the okay to leave from Jas after he cleant up and threw away the containers when everyone was done eating, he grabbed his plastic bag containing his dinner and head back home.

It was only 10:30. He'd actually get to catch some sleep before waking up at 5 again. Days like this didn't happen too often.

He reached home and set his dinner down on his desk next to the one tiny lamp he had and the book he was currently reading. He pulled the 8 dollars in change that he got to keep from the 50 Kia gave him and set it in his drawer.

That could probably get him a decent jacket for the rest of the winter.

He ate his dinner and immediately crawled into his mattress, slightly satisfied at the opportunity to be able to get a good rest after a long time, and being able to afford a jacket for the winter. It wasn't quite enough to really put a smile on his face, but it certainly made him feel less exhausted.

He drifted off before he could think of much else. Alarm set to ring the next morning. He hoped his dreams would be eventful and prepared to repeat the same cycle the next day.

*

*

*

*

Luna stared at the wall. She hadn't blinked in the last 2 minutes.

It was dead silent.

Everyone surrounded the scene downstairs but no one said a word.

Luna clenched her fists and looked over to where Mili was lying on the couch, the deep stab wound in her leg wrapped with as much gauze as they had on them, breathing heavily as she tried to drink water.

Luna's eyes finally shifted where she glanced at the clock in the corner. 4 minutes past 3am.

She turned to everyone else in the room.

"Everyone stays here for the next two days. Go home and get your shit right now. We go do this one ourselves." She ordered.

Everyone nodded.

This got uglier than anyone anticipated.


	3. chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello this is a week late because i have a LIFE no im just depressed and useless but whatever this chapter will be quite shit because im writing it in a hurry and it's also very short sorry

Mili approached the familiar run down shack a few lanes down the same crappy complex she'd gotten used to navigating around over the years. It wasn't likely that she'd have to go do a job like this alone, but everyone had things to do and well, there wasn't really another choice.

The shack belonged to Felipe and his gang. Their gang was smaller and functioned locally but they were always on good terms. They mingled with business and did eachother favours. The problem with Felipe though, was that he had some trouble keeping his word.

Luna wasn't one to agree to lend money. Lending out cold, hard cash no matter who it was, was a big no for her.

She didn't trust anyone and didn't like being fleeced.

She made an exception this one time, considering Felipe and her went way back and she really had no reason not to trust him. He asked, and a week later he had a bundle of 10 grand in cash sitting on his desk. With a promise of paying the money back in 2 months, Luna recorded the expense and moved on.

Here's where the problem comes in.

4 months of the debt going unpaid changed Luna's attitude towards the entire situation. Felipe dodging her calls, making up excuses everytime someone showed up for the money and the arguments ended up simmering some bad blood. There was no straight explanation and Felipe wouldn't take her seriously.

No one fleeced Luna. She didn't let that shit go easy. Ever.

Today was the final straw. Mili was ordered to settle it right there and then. She was armed and ready to cause some damage if that's what it took to make the point. 

Well, it was time.

She banged on the door loudly.

"Open the fuck up Felipe if we don't get our money today it's gonna get real fucken ugly." Mili yelled from outside the door.

The doorknob twisted and a tall lanky guy covered in tattoos opened the door and shut it quickly behind him. He turned to face Mili.

That would be Marco.

"We don't have the fucking money, we got shit to do so fuck off." Marco spat back at her.

"We're done letting you motherfuckers go. No fucking body gets away fleecing us outta 10 grand. You either pay up right now, or we fuck shit up for every single one of you." Mili stood taller and reached back to where her knife was tucked near her hip just in case.

"I fucking SAID we don't have the money it's a fucking off day Felipe's out and so is everyone else." Marco started to push Mili backwards and further from the door. "So FUCK off. We pay you whenever the fuck we do. Stay off our shit." 

Mili reached to grab Marco's collar when out of nowhere Marco kneed her in the stomach and she felt a blinding pain in her thigh.

She looked down and saw blood and what seemed to be the end of a blade lodged in her leg. With blurry vision she saw Marco hurriedly locking the door and running in the opposite direction while frantically talking on the phone. She collapsed to the ground and saw Marco disappear from her peripheral vision before everything went black.

*

*

*

*

Luna didn't think Felipe or any of his funion sized friends had the audacity to fight her. That in mind, watching Lou run back inside with an unconscious and extremely injured Mili in her arms was quite the shock.

She didn't have much time to be shocked though. She thought about the good rapport she had with Felipe and everything they went through together and looked back at Mili's wounded leg.

Fleecing her out of cash would piss off Luna for sure. She wouldn't let that shit go until her money was back with interest.

But fuck with one of her girls?

That's gonna catch you almost dead if not entirely.

This wasn't a stupid fallout anymore. This was it. Felipe was over. 

Being one of the biggest gangs in the city and doing the work Luna does pretty much guaranteed her enemies. She had enemies in every corner of the fucking country. Every step she took was watched and every breath she took was stalked with bloodlust. She knew many that wanted her dead, but it was rare for her to find someone she reciprocated the sentiment to.

Luna was by no means naive. But there was a small part of her that thought she'd never have to get to this point with Felipe. Her fist clenched and made a sound against the leather of the old couch. She heard the door open from upstairs and stood upright. Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes for a few seconds.

When she opened them, they were pitch black and emotionless. Every ounce of light was darkened with nothing but a vague sense of purpose and a goal in mind.

Felipe was persistent and smart. This wouldn't be as easy as a big powerful gang shutting down a bunch of shrimps that fucked with them.

This would be gruesome and could end badly. They had to play this right.

But for now, what was important was establishing that this wasn't a friendly fucking playground anymore.

The white flag came down now. Luna got ready to head upstairs.

"Everyone ready?" Luna looked at everyone patting themselves down and double checking to make sure they were fully armed.

They all nodded back at her.

"Let's go."


	4. chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello losers this chapter wont be the longest but now ill start regular updates again i promise now that arch is back and my boards are over

It was Tuesday. Luna knew Felipe did his rounds with his buyers on Tuesdays. 

She also knew the rest of his guys would have fled to the upper side of town just incase Luna decided to take early action.

Felipe did his rounds alone. That was his weakness, he didn't trust his partners with the big business. It was a dictatorship, not the connection of blood and soul you needed for a real gang.

She sent her girls uptown and decided she would deal with Felipe alone. Heba didn't want her going alone but honestly, Luna needed the adrenaline.

Despite being in this business, Luna didn't have any vices other than booze and the occasional cigarette. She didn't like losing herself, not having complete control.

Funny, she knew someone else just like that.

Felipe wasn't aware of this, but Luna knew where he carried out his business. When shit was offhand, Felipe picked random days and random locations. No permanence. It wasn't safe. 

But on Tuesdays, his loyal buyers that were in the higher realm of this business would talk shit out in this old garage that had been left abandoned on the lower side of town years ago. It was under the ground and the lifts got fucked up a long time ago. Felipe improvised, found a vent entrance and installed a ladder. Wasn't the safest, but got the job done.

Felipe never told Luna because Luna considered the relation too close to bring into business. Which was understandable. So Felipe kept her out of business.

The thing was, Luna still didn't trust anybody. Took about 2 months before she tracked every place of business down in case of something like this.

Around half an hour later she was armed with two knives, and even though she didn't like the idea, a handgun.

Guns weren't Luna's thing. She liked action up and close. She was trained to fight since she was 3 and guns took the fun out of it.

But Mili was hurt, and Luna was out to make a real statement. She wouldn't kill Felipe. Not this time. But they were no longer fucking friends.

Depending on how Felipe took this statement, this would either start a war or end one. Luna hoped for the latter and prayed she wouldn't have to kill Felipe with her own hands instead.

No more time for thinking. She heard Felipe's voice, and to her surprise, Marco's. What the fuck was Marco doing on Felipe's rounds? Felipe always did them alone. 

He probably brought him along since he was the one that attacked Mili. He'd get the most shit out of the encounter.

But this was good. Luna could deal with him face to face.

Coming down the ladder would be too slow. It was a 10-11 foot drop. She could make it. 

Even though it all happened in a matter of seconds, the time between when Luna dropped down and caught Felipe and Marco's attention felt like it went by at a glacial pace. Luna had eyes on every detail of the room, every expression on her enemies face, and their every movement.

She noticed everything in the room all at once, including what seemed like a hostage tied to a chair in the corner of the room. That was for later. Now, she had to deal with 130 kilograms 6'5 Felipe, and quick handed Marco.

She didn't have to say anything. They both knew exactly what she was here for, and despite being shocked that Luna even knew of this place, were armed and charged at Luna full speed.

Luna ducked swiftly under the first swing from Felipe and wielded both her knives at the same time. She wasn't the best at physical combat given her small stature, but no one knew their way around a knife and a bunch of shitheads like Luna.

Swift stabs in both their legs and a quick retraction later, luna managed to get their shoulders too as they both keeled over with pain. Marco still worked fast enough to grab her foot and bring her down. Luna couldn't afford to leave her weapons with them, even if they were lodged in their shoulders. 

She heard sharp screams as she pulled the knives out and Marco's grip loosened enough for her to slip out and roll back out atleast 7 feet away. She managed to get her knives back in place and pull the gun out within the next second.

Nothing could have compared to the look on Felipe's face when he saw the woman he'd never see even hold a gun point one right at him with no emotion in her eyes and a stone expression on her blood stained face. He couldn't move. He knew better than to.

Marco on the other hand, decided to try to charge at Luna again. Big mistake.

One swift shot at his leg and he was down with a blood curling cry. Luna thought she heard a whistle in the back but she couldnt bring her attention to that right now.

"Pick his sorry ass up and get out of here in the next 30 seconds if you want to get out of this one with your boy still alive." 

Her voice was monotone. She'd never used this voice with Felipe. Felipe was stunned into obedience and she watched unblinking as he picked marco up and made a run for it.

Well that was that.

"Not bad, princess."

Oh.

Luna whipped her head around. She'd recognize that smug voice any time of day.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" 

Luna looked incredulously at the long haired smug dickhead that was dressed in black and tied to a chair, smirking back at her.

Kia.

What in gods good fuck was Kia M doing in Felipe's basement tied to a fucking chair?

"Heyyyy, come onn don't look so shocked, princess".

Luna rolled her eyes at the nickname. She wasn't her fucking prison bitch, what the fuck was 'princess'?

"Awww what's with the attitude? Are we not a morning person?" Kia was still smirking. Luna kicked the chair just hard enough for it to fall backwards.

"oOf- fuck I'll take That as a no then".

"What are you and your fuckin big head about your fight skills doing tied to a chair in Felipe's area?" Luna asked, getting the blood off her face and clothes.

"Well I came here with a pocket knife and a good mood. This was supposed to be happy business as far as I knew but then 10 minutes later, boom. In a chair." Kia answered, sounding far too relaxed for one of the biggest gang leaders in the city being roped to a splintery chair.

"Keep being a reckless dipshit, really makes shit easier for us." Luna spat back, some smugness making it's way into her voice as well. "What's the deal? Can't make your way out of a chair with a pocket knife?" Luna asked mockingly.

Kia snorted in response. "Not exactly princess, Felipe happened to spill about how he fucked with your group yesterday" Luna stilled for a second. Kia was still her biggest rival. While meetings like this weren't exactly uncommon, they both knew every word counted when the real shit went down.

"Figured it was only a matter of time before you showed up, and I was in the mood for a show, so I played along with his bullshit. Paid off though, haven't seen those moves in a while, princess" Kia still managed to sound like an absolute overconfident asshole from where she was tied to a chair and lifting her head up from the ground like a moron.

Alot of questions ran through Luna's head. She never new Felipe supplied for Kia. Was it a new arrangement? Did he hide it from her? Why was Felipe trying to fuck with Kia? Why did he tell her about what happened with Mili? She started leaving when an obnoxious voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Not gonna get me out, princess?" Kia yelled over from the ground, still smiling.

"Get yourself out, dipshit." 

Luna rolled her eyes and huffed as she walked away, Kia's obnoxious laugh still ringing in the background.

As if Kia couldn't have gotten out of there hours ago.

Fucking dipshit.


	5. chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is more of a filler chapter i guess but the action is coming in chapter 6 so yes but also 👀👀👀

_"each day that goes by fails to materialize itself._

_i dont think i quite see existence the way others do._

_while i dont believe in convention, i certainly believe there is something lacking in my perception of the world._

_saying that i dont know what life means would be too cliche._

_i might have half the grasp on social functionality an average person may have, but thats probably due to the lack of 'co ventional' circumstances that i am so unconvinced actually exist._

_sometimes i wonder how much different a normal life even would be. is it even worth lusting after?_

_im sure the implications of my situation are somewhat influential, but aren't we all hollow?_

_how different would it be?"_

  
Arul needed a new pencil. He left the last bit of lead near his mattress and got ready to leave the house.

He'd gotten the previous day off from Luna with pretty much no explanation, but he didn't question it much. This had happened a few times and didn't really throw Arul off. His shift at Kia's last night went as per usual. He actually managed to clean the bathroom, ran around doing some petty errands, bought dinner and then stuck around to clean a bit more before heading home. 

He was back on his way to Luna's. The air was chilly as it got closer to winter, and Arul reminded himself to buy a jacket before heading back home after his shift. 

While Arul didn't appreciate having to use his muscles at 5 in the morning, he definetly prefered the silence and empty streets to the bustle of the evening. Having to take bylanes and small alleys in order to avoid crowds for his second shift was the more tedious part of his day.

The first thing Arul noticed when he was let in by Lou was Mili sitting on the desk where Kyra was, and the massive bandage on her thigh. While he knew better than to mention it, he was pretty sure his facial expression did a bad job of masking his curiosity. 

Lou snickered at the slightly bewildered face Arul was making and shuffled downstairs after Arul closed the door. Arul set his bag down and walked towards Kyra, who had just gestured to him. 

"Get everyone the usual for breakfast and dont get any snacks today, everyones out early." Kyra said while handing him 40 bucks. He pocketed the money and nodded at her. 

Arul glanced at Mili's leg once again, and the thick bandages suggested it was a pretty serious wound. While he assumed they were in fights often, it was unlikely that he saw any of them severely wounded. That happened more often with Kia's gang.

He tried not to seem too obvious about his thoughts and head out quickly. There was only one store open this early and while the cashier was almost always asleep, Arul didn't quite have the guts to steal. Although, Awkwardly waking up the skinny tattooed man with a green buzzcut every morning made him reconsider his morals quite a few times.

The rest of his shift at Luna's was relatively uneventful. They stayed downstairs for the most part and only asked Arul to clean around upstairs and get lunch around 1pm. Arul thought the mundane nature of the morning would persist, but right before he was ready to leave around 2, Heba informed him that Luna wanted to see him.

He head downstairs and knocked twice on the door. He was let in by Farah, who pointed to where Luna was sitting in the corner of the room. He nodded meekly and walked to where she was.

Luna didn't look up at him when his footsteps halted and he stood next to where she was. "You got tomorrow off. Come back day after at 4am, you need to go get a pick up from downtown" she ordered in a monotonous voice. She reached into a drawer and handed him a white envelope that was sealed at the top. "That's your pay for this month, you can go home now." 

Arul nodded at her and took the envelope from her hands slowly. He turned around and head back upstairs, trying to ignore the uncomfortable silence in the room that persisted from the second he entered. There was probably something they didn't want an errand boy hearing about. Not that he processed anything that was said around him in the first place.

The jacket he bought from the cheap little thrift store near his neighborhood seemed to help with the harsh winds of the city. Even in the afternoon, the sky was dark and the air was biting. It would be like this for the next 3 months. 

Despite getting a sufficient amount of rest during the last few days, Arul's body clock still demanded some sleep before his next shift. He ate his lunch and set an alarm for another hour, remembering that Kia had asked him to come at 5 and leave by 9. It was a bit strange that he was asked to shift timings often recently by both his bosses, but he didn't think much of it.

A quick nap later, Arul was ready for his second shift and head out ny 4:30 to make sure he didn't get late. There was still no sign of the sun and Arul wondered if it might rain the next day. The city had odd unpredictable weather and it usually rained once before the winter kicked in.

When Arul arrived at Kia's 5 minutes before 5pm, the only people present were Chanel, Rita and Andy. That probably had something to do with why he was only here for 4 hours. 

"You need to pick up something by Nico's, its the little red shack off the corner of serena street. Knock three times and tell them Kayla sent you. Grab the box and get it here first, and be discreet about it." Andy told him and handed him an envelope he presumed was for Nico. Andy was one of the more polite members of Kia's gang. He nodded and took the envelope and went on his way.

The interaction at Nico's went relatively smoothly. Serena street was only a five minute walk and there weren't many people around so being discreet was easy. He felt slightly anxious when the burly looking man checked if the amount in the envelope was enough and gave Arul a terrifying once-over. When he didn't die at the end of it, he considered it a successful transaction and head back to Kia's.

When he arrived back at Kia's door and moved the box aside to knock on the door, he noticed a figure near the back of the shack in the small alley between Kia's and the small garage next to it. He squinted at the figure and they seemed to be squatting and oh god what the- were they fucking pissing? What in God's name was happening? 

Before he could process anything the door in front of him opened and he was met with Rita, who looked perplexed after seeing Arul stand behind the door with a confused expression on his face. "You're back already? Why didn't you knock?" She asked him.

"I was uh- just going to um listen i don't wanna alarm anyone but i think someone's pissing on the shack" Arul managed to stammer out. The second Rita heard this her eyes widened and Arul saw shocked realisation dawn on her face. She pushed past Arul, causing him to trip and fall at the doorstep, and yelled.

"TOSKA YOU FUCKING DICK GET THE FUCK BACK HERE" Rita was now chasing after the figure who was now running while pulling their pants back up. 

Arul was, to say the least, incredibly confused. But his attention was quickly drawn to the fact that he was now on the floor, and so was the box. Arul started panicking- he had no idea what was in the box and if it was fragile. By the time Andy showed up in front of him he was already frantically apologising. 

"Chill don't worry about it, it's just some clothing gear." Andy chuckled at him and picked the box up and set it on the bar. Arul sighed with relief and started to stand up, only to be knocked down again when Rita pushed past him to get in while yelling obscenities about a certain "Toska". Great, he was now a doormat. Stable career option.

"Fucking pissy dickhead I'm gonna get her next time." Rita grumbled as she plopped down on the couch. Arul was now standing, and head to the kitchen to see if there was anything that needed cleaning.

"We gotta get a new guy man i swear to god" He heard Chanel say through her laughter in the main room.

"No way. We need someone that works independent for guns and everyone that does is a fucking psychopath. At least all she does is piss." Andy replied with a slight smile on her face. "Until we have our own shit, we gotta deal with the piss." The other two grumbled in agreement and he heard one last groan of frustration from Rita.

Arul finished up some cleaning and bought dinner for everyone. Besides the piss incident not much happened during his shift. No one mentioned Kia, Jas and Kayla's whereabouts around him either. He was sat on the floor waiting for any last minute work before he head home, when Chanel approached him and leant on the wall next to where he was sitting.

"Done with the book i gave you last time?" She asked him with a raised eyebrow. Oh right, Arul almost forgot. He nodded at her and removed said book from his bag, handing it to her. 

She took the book from him and handed him a different one that she had in her left hand. "Here, I read this one 2 years ago. You like weirdo dystopian shit?" She asked him, to which Arul gave a shrug followed by a nod. 

She chuckled at him. "You can go home now, theres no more work for the day." She told him and moved from where she was standing. "Uh- Do you have a spare pencil?" Arul spoke up before he forgot. Chanel stopped and gave him a confused look. "Yeah, what do you need a pencil for?" She asked.

"Um.. grocery lists and stuff, I had one but its pretty much useless now." Arul replied. Chanel nodded in response and walked towards the desk and fished out a pencil from one of the drawers. "Here you go, close the door on your way out I'm going downstairs." Chanel said, handing him the pencil. He nodded at her and head back out to buy his dinner and then go home.

Arul had somewhat of an unspoken arrangement with Chanel. He didn't have much to do at his small apartment, and so Chanel would lend him a different book every two weeks to keep his mind running. He appreciated it. She had good recommendations and he'd always enjoyed books. 

Arul bought his dinner at the same convenience store and walked back home. He could start his new book and then get a really good rest

*

*

*

Luna took another look at herself in the mirror as Heba adjusted the heavy gold necklace over her sleek black gown. 

"You gonna be okay with the heels for the whole night?" Heba asked from where she was stood behinf Luna and received a scoff as an answer.

"Please. This is Not my first time, I can handle it." She responded and double checked to make sure that she was fully armed. There were gonna be a lot of people at this party and none of them were going to be what they looked like. 

"I still think going ahead with business tonight is too risky." Heba voiced her thoughts as she adjusted the tie on the suit she was wearing. "That's why you're coming with me. Relax, we're used to this." Luna replied with a calm almost-smile on her face.

Heba was right. Tonight was risky. She had to stay on her toes or everything could go very wrong very quickly.

"Ready to go?" Heba held her hand out towards Luna. Luna took it and nodded.

"Let's do it."

*

*

*


	6. chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried making this kinda long but like eh but here it is boys what you've all been waiting for

It was a nice hotel.

The hallroom was huge, to say the least. There were atleast five hundred people present from what Luna could gague where she was stood near the stage with Heba's arm around her waist. Her right hand was set on Heba's shoulder, and her left in Heba's firm grasp as she scanned her eyes around the room again.

Luna's eyes flitted towards the large clock mounted on the wall at the front of the room. 9:02pm. Any minute now.

  
They were here to take care of some business that had been put on hold since the whole Felipe incident, and almost risked them letting Mary loose.

Two weeks ago, one of Luna's warehouses in Long Island was burned to the ground. The police stepped off when they traced it back to Luna, and all the goods were gone. All the traces burnt in the fire. They had no reason to meddle. It was Luna's territory now.

Mary was what you could call a freelance entrepreneur. She was famous for her quick work, and she was even more famous for almost ever having her contact traced back to her. They called her a fruit fly. It's supposed to mean that she's impossible to catch and disappears the second you figure out how to catch her, but by the time everyone realised how lame the nickname was, it was too late.

They ran their research though, they interrogated whoever they had to, checked out all the timings, and everything pointed to Mary. She had a certain way of doing things that was unmistakable, there's no way it was anyone else.

The only thing they had to find out now though, was her contact

And that's why they were here.

9:06pm. 

_"I have eyes on fruit fly, she's exiting a black rolls royce and heading towards the entry. Long curled brown hair shifted to one side, long black gown similar to Luna's."_

Lou's voice rang in Luna's right ear where the earpiece was. It was prototype technology that wasnt sold in mass yet but worked with short distances. Lou was planted at a suite in the Marriot right opposite the hotel they were at, so the signal carried out.

Luna rolled her eyes. "Fucking bitch copied my dress too." Heba snickered in response.

"I see her, she's gonna head to the bar. Move towards the banquet for now" Heba directed at Luna and they danced smoothly towards the laid out buffet before Mary could notice.

They were currently at The Regal, where the annual party to welcome the winter and holiday season was held. It was high brow, with an exclusive guestlist comprising only of corrupt CEOs, the big fish in the black market, money launderers, classy murderers and powerful blood like Luna.

Many used it as an opportunity to conduct business that required contracts more botched than your typical bank loan. Every person in the room had the ghost of a tear drop tattoo shadowing their cheekbones. 

Mary was a popular choice when you didn't want your hands dirty. She feared no one and loved the gruesome work. You couldn't shoot the messenger, and she'd protect her order with every last breath. She turned enemies into business partners and bad blood into hard cash. She never held grudges, because she never had an emotional motive. 

"I still think we should have gotten a mic on Hakim." Heba made her opinion clear for the 6th time that evening. "Its too dangerous, we need her to buy the act and she'd notice a mic on him within the first minute. It'd never work." Luna responded and Heba clicked her tongue in reaction. Heba was never prepared for how impulsive Luna could be sometimes. 

They lured Mary to the party by setting up Hakim, a black market psychedelic distributor, as a business opportunity for her. Hakim would ask her to do a job that didn't really exist, and get her to the hotel room they booked in advance, where Lou would have a perfect vantage point once again.

If all went to plan, they'd get Mary where they wanted her. The only problem would be getting her to cough up her contact.

"We need to get back on the floor, i see Hakim and Mary at the bar." Heba informed Luna. Just in time, a peppy Latin tune burst through the speakers. "Ready to dance?" Heba raised an eyebrow at Luna who reluctantly took her hand.

They swayed to the fast beat and tried to blend in with the couples around them. Heba spun Luna closer to the center of the floor where she could clearly see Hakim and Mary, and stopped there to dip Luna where the chorus ended. 

"What's the conversation looking like?" Luna whispered where she was held in a dip by Heba's right arm. Heba had her head turned towards the bar. "They both have a drink and they're talking. Atmosphere seems casual, no suspicions." She said, turning back to Luna and lifted her, continuing to dance.

They danced till the end of the song, keeping an eye on the two at the bar. Hakim was instructed to entertain Mary for half an hour, before escorting her to the hotel room to discuss "business". Heba counted each drink they had as they went, staying with Luna on the dance floor, making sure they went unnoticed by their target. 

Luna was a bit antsy. She moved too fast trying to get an eye on Mary, tripped on her heels and almost crashed into the waiter holding a tray of drinks near the stage. Heba had one hand on Luna's forearm and drew her in by the waist, pulling her out of the way as Luna held in a yelp. Luckily they hadn't attracted too much attention to themselves

"Used to it my ass." Heba remarked snidely at Luna who looked slightly embarrassed standing inches away from her. "Shut up, the floor is slippery." She retorted unconvincingly. Heba snorted in response before turning her attention back to the bar. 

"Heads up, they're gonna go to the room." Heba said sharply, as she observed the receptionist approach Hakim with a key, presumably to tell him the room was ready. 

Luna kept her eye on their movements and watched Hakim's lips move as he asked Mary to continue the discussion in a safer place. She let out a breath she wasn't aware she was holding in as she saw Mary smile and nod, getting up from the barstool and following Hakim. 

"Move fast, we don't have much time before Hakim needs to start producing details." Luna ordered and the two moved swiftly the second Hakim and Mary were out of eyesight. 

Hakim and Mary took the elevator. The room they booked was on the 11th floor, and Luna and Heba had precisely 6 minutes to make it up 11 flights of stairs before it seemed suspicious that Hakim still wasn't getting to the point. Luna kicked her heels off and they ran as fast as they could up the fire exit stairs.

They made it to the floor with twenty seconds to 6 minutes. The room was 1106 and they stood outside waiting for confirmation from Lou. 

" _They're both in. Marys on the couch and Hakim's pouring a drink. No ones talking, now's your time, get in there, Fast."_

Heba and Luna glanced at eachother and nodded in confirmation before grabbing their guns and storming into the room. Luna still didn't like guns, but it was too risky to leave fingerprints at the Regal.

"Don't fuckin move, one wrong move and you know what happens" Heba and Luna pointed their guns at Mary who looked startled for around a second, but quickly put two and two together when she noticed Hakim flee the room instantly, and relaxed back into the couch with an amused smile. 

"Well then, haven't you two wasted my night." Mary stated with fake disappointment in her tone. Luna and Heba approached her steadily, closing in on her. 

"We can do this one of two ways, fruit fly. You can cough up your contact and get back to salsa and cocktails, or we might have to mess up a perfectly neat suite." Luna stated blankly with a pointed stare directed towards Mary. 

"Strong words there. I don't compromise my contact regardless of the circumstances, i'm sure you're aware. But i wouldn't worry too much, I doubt i'll have to be the one to break the news." Mary responded, seemingly confident, but even Luna noticed that she was completely alert. They'd never directly confronted Mary before because no one had been brave enough to order a job on Luna through her. Mary's words confused Luna a bit.

Just as Luna's brow twitched at the strange response, a jarring sound of someone storming in through the door caught her and Heba off guard. They both turned around to see a figure in a ski mask that was heavily armed approach Heba, and Mary took the moment of weakness to knock the gun out of Luna's hands and tackle her to the ground. Heba was also caught in a tight grip by the figure in the ski mask as she turned her attention to Luna. 

Great, they were both down.

Heba struggled in the tight grip she was in, but recognised the familiar feeling of the light sedative that had been injected in her thigh and struggled to stay in her wits long enough to make sure Luna was okay.

"She'll be up in 3 hours, no side effects." The figure said gruffly, grip still tight on Heba's wrists. Mary had Luna pinned face down on the floor while her hips were still in the air as she struggled to get out of the grip she was in. Mary was fully decked and made quick work of the wrist restraints, staying where Luna was to restrict her movements completely.

Shit. Did Mary have backup? Who the hell had Heba? Was this all planned? A thousand questions ran through Luna's mind but her thoughts were cut short as she heard a loud noise and a scream in her ear. Her eyes widened. "Lou??? Lou do you hear me?? Lou what's happened??" Luna spoke frantically. 

Mary lifted her from the ground and pinned her against the window instead. Luna heard some white noise in her ear followed by some shuffling and then finally, a voice.

" _Fancy gadgets, Princess."_

You had to be Fucking kidding.

Luna's head shot up as she looked across the street to the window right opposite hers. Her blood boiled as she saw Kia's snarky smile and the mocking wave she was sending Luna as she spoke into the remote that had the mic and speaker that connected to Luna's earpiece. 

Right next to her, Jas had Lou in a tight grip and was busy cuffing her to the drawer. Lou struggled violently and ended up knocking the remote out of Kia's hand and into the crowded street. She saw Kia's lips move to form words she could only decipher as "C'mon man!". Kia started unassembling the rifle set up near the window incase Lou had to make a far shot.

Wait. So did that mean-

Luna whipped her head back around as fast as she could and saw that Heba was now completely passed out, and the figure had now removed their ski mask to reveal ginger hair and the familiar forehead scar.

No mistake, it was Ron Weasley and Harry Potter's fucked up dyke lovechild, Kayla. She should have guessed from the use of the sedative. Heba was already passed out on the floor and Kayla wrapper her equipment up and winked at Luna.

Great. Now everyone was down and Luna would have to wait till Heba woke up to get out of the strains. A voice interrupted her silent grumbling.

"You can't catch a fruit fly. I'd love to do business with you someday, lets call this water under the bridge shall we?" Mary smiled back at Luna as she got up and head out the door right after Kayla, leaving Luna with her hands tied behind her back, face down on the floor next to the window, and Heba knocked out unceremoniously on the floor beside the bed. Lovely.

This was Not how the night was supposed to go.

*

*

*

Kyra looked at the footage playing on the PC and narrowed her eyes at the paused frame. 

"Can you make out who it is?" Farah asked from where she was leaning on the desk next to Kyra's chair. Kyra shook her head in response.

"That's the third time in the last week. Same guy, same envelope, same interaction. And all their stuff gets moved out this morning." Mili pipes up. Kyra sighs. 

"If this is what we think it is..." Kyra voiced her thoughts. At the same time, Luna appeared upstairs first. After the whole fiasco and getting out of the hotel rooms at 7 in the morning with Luna wearing hotel slippers under her now ruined black gown, Her, Heba and Lou decided to take a nap before recuperating. It was 1pm now, and Luna walked towards Kyra's desk. 

"What's going on?" Luna asked and the rest of them glanced at eachother before looking up at Luna.

"We think Felipe was bought out." 

"What??"

*

*

*

The streets were dark with no commotion when Arul was on his way to the old movie theatre near central. Every month he'd buy a cheap ticket to an old movie, and since he had Kia's shift off early, he chose tonight. 

The theatre's last show would always be at 4am. That's the show Arul would catch because there were never any people around at the time.

He made his way, passing by the Marriot when he heard a soft radio-static like sound from the ground and turned his attention to a small but thick black device that had been caught in some flower bushes near the sidewalk. He'd never seen anything like it, it had a few buttons and a speaker that he brought towards his ear to better hear the sound.

" _I knew it was Kayla the second i felt the sedative. That's her move on paper."_

_"Kia usually likes the action up close. Didn't think she'd hire Mary for this type of work"_

_"Luna, she never starts something without a reason. Why did she target the warehouse?"_

_"Fuck if I know. I've memorized years of history with our families rivalries and nothing about Long Island ever popped up. We'll discuss this when we get Lou. Lets clean up and go."_

The remote slipped out of Arul's hand and the only thing he could think to do was run. He ran as fast as his feet would take him as he tried to process what he just heard. He ran through the city back to his neighborhood as he heard his pulse going wild. 

By the time he slammed the door behind him and collapsed against it, everything was already going black and only one thought settled in his head.

He worked for the two biggest gangs in the city.

And they were blood rivals.

*

*

*


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a filler chapter so it's gonna be short but for context its been 2 days since the hotel fiasco.

Kia made quick work of counting the last bundle and placed it in the briefcase which was now full, shutting it and leaning back in her seat.

"Nice work this month kid, not bad." Kia raised her eyebrows, looking up at the girl standing next to her chair.

"Told you, boss. Business has been especially great, numbers should be even higher next month." Angie smiled leisurely back at Kia. 

Angie was around 18. She worked under Kia since she was 12, and around this time last year, Kia put her in charge of running the gambling club she opened downtown. Angie was diligent and knew how to keep a business running. More than that, she was loyal. Kia hadn't run into any issues since putting Angie in charge of the business. Numbers were good and she got shit done on time.

They made good money off the club. It was located conveniently and attracted old women with alcoholic husbands and a serious thirst for action. Not many people knew this club was mafia funded so the cops didn't really mess with the place either. They wanted to keep Angie safe.

She had close relations with Kia's family but got kidnapped when she was around 6 and was forced to work with some black market sharks until Kia fished her out of the scene when Angie was around 12. Since then, she was one of Kia's closest working subordinates.

"I'll send Arul with your paycheck tomorrow. Nice work." Kia nodded at angie and relaxed back into the chair. She was currently in the back lounge of the club with Andy, Chanel and Kayla. They came here to collect the profits of the month and to check in with Angie. 

"You never told me where you picked up the guy from?" Angie questioned and moved to sit on the chair opposite Kia's. 

"Arul? We found the kid at a soup kitchen around a year and a half ago. I wanted somebody naive that just needed cash. Poor kid looked like he couldn't fight a rat, he was perfect." Kia responded, smiling at the memory. Angie chuckled at the story and turned her attention back to the tv screen where the game was on.

"Angie could ya get us another round?" Kayla piped up from where she was sat on the bean bag. Angie nodded at her and left the lounge to head back to the kitchen. Kayla watched her movements and waited till she was out of earshot.

"How long do ya think till Luna does something?" Kayla asked and the air in the room shifted slightly as everyone paid attention to Kia's response.

"She's probably still trying to figure out why we had her shit burned down in the first place. Shes not gonna move till she knows." Kia stated with relative confidence and took another sip of her beer.

"It's already been longer than it usually takes before she reacts. This one isn't gonna go down easy." Andy voiced.

"Either way we should stay prepared. She could come from anywhere at anytime, and shes always had a skewed idea of what equitable revenge is." Chanel voiced her thoughts, throwing another dart at the board hanging on the wall and missing for the 9th time.

"How come you can shoot a guy from 40 feet away dead on but cant aim at a fucking bar game?" Andy asked, snickering at Chanel's failure and received a middle finger in response.

Kia laughed at the exchange before piping up. "I have an idea. Its a little out of pocket and definetly dangerous but i got a good feeling."

Before anyone could question Kia's statement, Angie came through the door again with more beers in her hand. She'd have this conversation when they all got back.

*

*

Toska wasn't entirely sure why Kia would ask her to meet at the pizzeria. They didn't have any scheduled work and the only other thing she'd use the pizzeria for was smuggling and meetings. Either way, she was now in the back room of the pizzeria that was funded by Kia's group, sitting across the table from Kia and the rest of her group.

It was even weirder that Kia's entire close circle was at the meeting. This was definitely something important.

"Piss," Kia voiced, completely breaking the tension Toska had built up in her head by using the nickname. "I'm gonna cut to the chase. We got a proposition for you, and its gonna make you alot more than selling guns to dopeheads." Kia stated.

Now this had Toska's attention. She leant on the table and raised her eyebrows, prompting Kia to go on.

"Things might get heated up with Luna again. She's got better arms than us and we're gonna be short staffed. You've been working with us for years now, and I trust you. So I'm gonna make you an offer, and I really hope you work with me here." Kia started.

Toska wasn't really prepared for what Kia actually had in mind.

"We want you to work side by side with us for the next month. You cut your business off with your other contacts and if anybody makes noise about it, we'll take care of it. We can't involve any 'subordinates' in this type of work so that's why we're coming to you. You get on the team with us, stay with us, and move your shit over here. We're gonna have close eyes on everything you do and you help us out while this tiff plays out. Here's what you get from it"

Kia slid a chit of paper with a number on it across the table to Toska. Toska's eyes widened slightly as she looked at the figure. Kia gave her some time to process the request.

Toska was relatively shell shocked. What Kia was essentially asking was for her to join her close quarters temporarily. 

The corners of Toska's lips turned up as she thought about the offer. As dangerous as this was, Toska was slightly addicted to the adrenaline that came with doing weird shit like this.

"You got a deal, boss." Toska said, now grinning and looking up at Kia who extended a hand to shake and close the deal.

A million thoughts ran through Kia's head as they left the pizzeria and went back home, but one rang louder than the others.

No way in _Hell_ Luna would see this one coming.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This still isnt as long as id like it to be but i felt like writing so whatever

_“i've forgotten the meaningless bouts of silence that once composed most of my life._

  
_I've never felt more frightened and yet there is no amount of adrenaline that could find me a solution._

  
_I feel suffocated._

  
_I feel more than i've been accustomed to._

  
_Every breath feels like a fight for air.”_

Arul hadn’t slept that night. 

  
His mind was clouded by a million questions he had no way of answering.

  
What could he even do? He had no motive to pick sides. They were both just jobs and if either of his bosses found out there was no doubt he'd get killed without hesitation. He'd lasted 2 years without anyone finding out but it was different now.

  
He knew, and it was impossible to not be hyperaware of every conversation around him. 

  
Earlier, he'd block out any mention of work and just stick to doing what he was told. There was no need for him to peer into the activities of the mafia even if he was working for them. He got through each day of his life with no motive or interest in anything other than basic survival and whatever entertainment his books could provide 

  
He never foresaw a conflict this intense in his near future and now he had no idea how to deal with it. All he felt was constant paranoia.

  
He tried to shake his thoughts out of his head and focus on the task at hand but it was to no avail. Even as he arrived at the gambling club and asked for Angie, his mind was riddled with the same predicament he'd been pondering over for the last 16 hours.

  
The unshifting gaze of the bouncers as he waited for Angie at the door didn’t help his anxiety and he shifted nervously. Before he could look too suspicious, however, Angie showed up at the back exit where he was waiting and nodded at the bouncers to give them some space.

“Thanks man, stay here for a second let me get the statement for Kia.” Angie took the envelope Arul had been instructed to deliver to her and went back inside to retrieve something. She returned a few minutes later and handed Arul what seemed to be documents in a large orange envelope.

  
Angie wasn’t really one for useless chitchat and Arul head back to Kia's once there was no work.

  
If there was one thing Arul could say with certainty, it was that he hated New York.

  
He hated the crowds, hated the people, hated how shitty the cheap street food was, hated how nothing was innocent. Arul had given up on optimistic thinking when it came to his future a long time ago, but he still really hoped there'd be a day where he could bid this shitty place goodbye. He'd atleast like to leave Brooklyn. The entire place constantly smelled like piss and there was no escape from it.

Speaking of piss, Toska had been at Kia's since his shift started. She looked like she had made herself at home, and this was confusing since Kia never held business right at her main place of work. Usually this wouldn’t be something of concern to Arul. He would hardly even notice it. But everything felt different now. He was hyper aware of every inconsequential detail. 

  
The rest of his shift went pretty normal. Besides Toska adding a little more chaos to the setting than he was used to, everything seemed pretty normal. While he still couldn’t quite get his mind to calm down, nothing particularly jarring had happened yet. 

He went his normal way home after his shift had ended and tried to enjoy the quiet that the cold Brooklyn night provided him. It eased his mind a little bit and he felt his limbs grow tired from the over exhaustion of working all day in addition to the mental taxation. He was ready to pass out without eating.

  
Just as he felt himself zone out of his environment, he heard footsteps and the strange sound of a click go off somewhere behind him. That snapped him back to reality and he turned around to look for the source of the noise.

  
His eyes shifted frantically from corner to corner of the street he was walking on but saw nothing. He was way too paranoid and could hear his heartbeat in his throat, but convinced himself it was a cat or his own mind creating hallucinations due to exhaustion and continued walking home.

*

*

*

Farah put the phone down after informing Arul not to show up for his shift and proceeded to gear up. It was a small job, maybe 5 guys at the most, but Luna insisted the whole team deal with this one. She locked up the place and head outside with Kyra and Luna.

A few hours ago there was an intrusion on one of their labs. This happened every now and then, a few kids way too new to this life would try to crash one of their labs, steal the substances and disappear. After getting the call, Luna sent Lou, Heba and Mili to take care of the situation and bring the intruders to the subway. That's where Luna would take care of this type of business because there was never any surveillance and the subway was closed at this time of night.

They reached the subway just in time to see four kids tied to the bench, and seemingly enough warning hits evident on their bodies to cough up their contact without much persuasion.

Luna approached the bench and what seemed like the tallest kid out of the batch and held her knife under his chin, forcing him to look up at her. 

"You got 90 seconds to call your boss and tell him to get his ass over here unarmed or my crew starts popping your little rat heads off one by one." Luna warned with a teasing lilt in her voice and searched the kid for a phone. After finding one in his back pocket, she cut one of his arms free and handed the phone to him.

The boy was seemingly too frightened to attempt physical defense, and dialed a number wih shaky hands. After receiving confirmation that their boss was on his way, Luna instructed everybody to get in position and be ready incase their boss didn't wanna play nice.

Around 10 minutes later, Farah heard footsteps and immediately, a bad feeling sunk in her chest.

"Its more than one person." She announced, only loud enough so that the crew could hear.

3 men made their way down the stairs with raised arms and stood infront of Luna. Lou, Heba and Mili raised guns at them to make sure they didn't move. Luna stepped forward, ready to ask some questions.

"Who do you work for?" 

The man at the front opened his mouth to speak. He seemed nervous which convinced Luna that she was right on her hunch. They were definitely some new kids that had no clue who the lab belonged to. 

"I started work under Georgio and went off on my own 2 months ago." He replied, his voice noticably unstable. But Luna knew he was telling the truth. She didn't have much to worry about. She'd take care of all 7 of them and make sure later that none of this had any direct orders from Georgio.

Just as she finished that thought, her attention was caught by the sound of a rope snapping and a gun cocking. 

One of the kids had broken free.

Everyone that had a gun on the leader shifted their aims to the kid and the leaders dispersed and tackled them in the moment of weakness.

Neon moved first and took a straight shot at the kid before he could do anything. A million things happened in the span of a second and it took the concentration of every bone in their bodies to keep up.

By the time Farah turned her attention to the rest of her crew, Luna had already shot the guy who had tackled Lou, and Lou moved quickly and attacked the guy above Heba as Luna shot the one that tried to pin Mili to the floor. 

Neon and Kyra fired at the rest of the tied up kids and Neon moved back and into a passageway to reload her gun as she kept a close eye on the last guy who now had a gun in a shaky hand pointed at Lou. She wasn't too worried though as she knew he had no chance with all 5 of them surrounding him and all his minions dead.

Farah turned around and cocked her gun immediately when she felt the weight of a body behind her only to hear a loud yelp and several pleas. Her eyes focused on the figure and it was a young looking girl wrapped in a rugged blanket staring back at Farah with fear in her eyes.

"Please dont shoot oh my god please I don't have anything I promise!!" The kid muttered almost incoherently and as Farah heard the last gunshot and turned around to make sure the last guy was dead, her shoulders dropped and she lowered her gun, grabbing the kids wrist instead, and dragging her out to the crew as she tried to pull away and kept mumbling pleas.

"Boss, there was a kid in the passageway. She doesn't have any connections to anything, I'm pretty sure shes just homeless but we can't let her go, she saw too much." Farah briefed Luna and pulled the kid ahead into Luna's direct field of vision.

The kid looked like she was about to say something but Luna cut her off first.

"Listen kid, we're not gonna hurt you so you're gonna have to calm down. Tell me what you were doing here first." Luna asked calmly.

"I sleep in the subway after its closed. The soup kitchen 4 stations away where i usually go closed down so i had to travel to this side of city instead." The girl answered after taking a few breaths.

"You homeless?" Luna raised an eyebrow and the girl nodded in response.

"What's your name?"

"Rero."

"You got any parents, Rero?" 

"No, they passed away when i was 5."

"How old are you?"

"15."

"Rero, here's the deal. We work in the mafia. You just saw some business that we cant let some random kid look at and run away. You're gonna come stay with us, and we'll take care of you. But you can't run away or cause any trouble. This isn't funny business and you're gonna have to cooperate." Luna briefed Rero and unable to fully process the situation, Rero simply nodded in agreement as she was too scared to refuse. Anybody would be.

"Bag the bodies and take care of them. Kyra, you come take the kid back with me." Luna ordered the crew and everybody nodded and got started on getting rid of the mess they'd created.

"So, what, we just got a kid now?" Kyra asked, slightly amused at the situation. She wrapped her arm around Rero's shoulder and they head back above ground.

Luna let out a light chuckle in response

"Looks like it."


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hahaha only took me 2 months enjoy

Kia took the last bitter drag of her cigarette before putting it out and letting the smoke from her next exhale cover her vision.

She watched the dull grey take over the sky as the sun disappeared behind the horizon and pulled out the matchbox in her pocket to light her next cigarette. Kia always hated lighters. Sure matchboxes were inconvenient and more flashy, and Kayla always made fun of her for acting cool, but she could never get used to the dull click of lighters. 

  
The view from the balcony wasn’t exactly breathtaking. It was quite a damper on the pretty picture that appears in ones head when thinking about the Brooklyn skyline. It was a short balcony that onlooked the dingy neighbourhood full of drug dealers and thieves and other far from wholesome activities, but it was what Kia was used to. Besides, a quiet smoke to herself was a rare opportunity and the aesthetic value of the activity was the last piece of criteria she would factor in.

  
The moment of peace, however, was short lived. The harsh sound of the sliding panels interrupted Kia's train of thought. Kayla leaned against the door frame and shot Kia an exasperated look.

  
“We got a problem at the Red Leopard.”

  
Kia sighed in disappointment. These moments of peace never lasted more than 5 minutes.

  
The Red Leopard was an old brothel Kia's gang had been running for years. The problem with owning a whore house on the dirty side of Brooklyn; nosy cops and the occasional asshole that thinks he can fuck with the girls. According to Kayla's explanation, it was the latter this time.

  
They had a standard procedure for dumbasses like that. Kia made sure her gun was loaded and got into the car while Kayla started the engine up.

The car ride was silent save for Kayla's occasional road rage and flipping off some drunk drivers. 6pm was a busy hour for the streets of Brooklyn and didn’t invite the most graceful driving.

The Red Leopard was hidden in a nice nook of the shoddy area of downtown Brooklyn, disguised as a strip club and quiet enough to not attract police attention. Except for times like these.

The two walked in past the neon sign and cheesy logo and entered the dark club filled with scantily dressed women and middle aged men in suits. Kia shot a wink at one of her favourite girls only to be given a swift slap in the head by Kayla, who urged her towards the basement.

  
After descending the creaky stairs into the dingy basement, they were met with their club manager, the girl who was presumably attacked, and finally, a skinnier guy in ratty clothes tied to a chair, complete with a bag over his head. Fridays sure were fun at the Red Leopard.

  
“Only paid enough for a private dance and started trying way too much. We found him pinning her to the table.” Their manager briefed them gruffly. This wasn’t the most uncommon case, but the Red Leopard was big on taking care of their girls. No entitled scumbag with no money behind his words got away with messing with one of the girls, and now was certainly not an exception.

  
“Take the bag off his head.” Kia ordered and Bruce, their manager, stepped forward to follow the instruction and removed the sack off the top of the struggling mans head.

  
What Kia wasn’t expecting though, was to find Marco gasping for breath and glaring back up at Kia. In the chair, was without a doubt one of Felipe’s rats that messed with Kia just two weeks ago. Ironic how that mapped out.

  
Once the initial shock was lifted, and Kia decided to push the several questions she had to the side for the mean time, a smirk formed on her face as decided what she was gonna do.

Kia turned her gaze towards the cowering girl in the corner of the room. 

“You ever shot somebody before, sweetheart?”

There was a palpable tension in the room and the silence was almost deafening save for Kayla's slight snicker in the background.

The girl shook her head in response but didn’t seem entirely intimidated by the question. Kia pulled the gun out from where it was secured at her hip and looked back up at the girl.

“Do you want to?” Kia asked, douchey grin still intact.

  
She watched as the girl’s eyes widened at the suggestion and observed the hesitant reaction. After considering it for a few seconds, the girl stepped forward and took the gun from Kia's hands with shaking fingers. Marco must have really pissed her off if she was willing to take his life even when she was clearly way too nervous. 

Still, Kia kept her eyes trained on her movements as she raised the gun towards Marco’s head. Marco had now begun screaming but the sounds were muffled through the gag that had been fitted over his mouth. The sounds of struggle did little to cut the tension in the room that seemed to rise with every passing second.

  
Ten seconds went by and the girl hadn’t taken the shot yet.

Fifteen seconds and her hands were now shaking violently with tears forming quickly in her bloodshot eyes.

Twenty seconds and the building tension in the room completely disappeared when Kia walked over to the girl and fit her own hand over the girl’s on the gun, shooting Marco right in the middle of his forehead with no hesitancy. 

Kayla was now clapping sarcastically in the background as Kia patted the shivering girl on her shoulder and put the gun back at her hip. “Maybe next time, kid.” Kia said somewhat reassuringly. Probably not the tone the girl was looking for, but oh well.

The car ride back home was silent. It was understood that it was too early to start discussing the move on Felipe and his rats and so they both drove back in silence, trying to collect their thoughts. It wasn't common for Luna and Kia to have trouble with the same gang. No one usually had the balls to fuck with them both.

Kia thought back to when she had met with Felipe to discuss business and ended up manhandled into a chair. Felipe's gang wasn't huge. Kia had way more power than he did. It made no sense to fuck with her for no reason but before Felipe could fill her in on anything other than vague threats and plans, Luna barged in and stole the show for the both of them. Leave it to princess. 

It was definitely time to start keeping tabs on Felipe. They could consider Marco being dead as revenge for last week but it still didn't make sense that Marco would fuck with one of the Red Leapord's girls. 

She still had trouble with Luna throughout this entire scenario too. Luna could strike back for having her warehouse burnt down at any moment now, and there was definitely something fishy about the whole Felipe situation.

Kia cracked the car window open and lit another cigarette before she got a fucking migraine. Maybe they shouldn't have been so hasty to leave the Red Leapord, blowing off some steam sounded great right now.

It was already loud when they parked the car outside the shack and Kia wondered what the fuck was going on in there. They weren't gone for more than an hour at most, and Arul must have arrived for his shift by this time too. 

Kia regretted her own curiosity the second she opened the door and saw piss fireman carrying a traumatised Arul and doing a victory dance over what seemed to be an over enthusiastic game of poker. Some fucking monsters.

"MY FATHER BET ME ON A STRAIGHT FLUSH WHEN I WAS A CHILD ITS IN MY BLOOD I'M FUCKING UNSTOPPABLE!!" Toska exclaimed after throwing Arul to the floor behind her with little regard for his safety. Everyone had now learned to not question Toska's charming anecdotes of her past and Chanel simply kicked the deck of cards over and made her way to the kitchen.

Arul had now gotten up off the floor and looked way more tired than he usually did. Maybe asking piss to join us wasn't the healthiest decision.

Kayla's phone ring and she stepped out again to take the call, and Kia tried to walk past the commotion to put her gun away. 

"All good, boss?" Chanel asked as Kia plopped down on the couch with a huge sigh of exhaustion. 

"Fucking stressed. I'll brief everyone in a second, send Arul to go get dinner." Kia responded and Chanel moved off the couch to follow the order.

Just as Arul was about to leave, Kayla barged through the door looking panicked and serious. 

"MOVE, EVERYONE WE HAVE TO FUCKING GO NOW!" Kayla yelled and her eyes looked wild.

"THEY GOT ANGIE!" 


End file.
